Promises and Magic
by MasterSleuthSu
Summary: It's been five years since the defeat of the White Witch and the Pevensie children have finally become fully adapted to their new lives in Narnia. But things are not as they seem. Trouble is brewing in the shadows of the world. Can they overcome this new darkness? Will there ever be true peace in their beautiful country? Formerly under SusanPevensie394. Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

(All characters and major themes belong to C.S. Lewis)

**Promises and Magic****  
**

By

SusanPevensie394

_"Susan," Lucy hissed, awakening me from a very pleasant dream.  
_

_My eyes fluttered open and I slowly pulled myself up so that I could see where she gestured. Stifling a yawn I realized what she seemed so upset about. Aslan was going somewhere. We hurriedly dressed and began to follow him. This continued for awhile, and for some reason I had a feeling that the lion knew we were there. Finally he stopped, forcing us to quickly dart behind a tree to keep from being seen._

_"Shouldn't you both be in bed?" he asked, his voice sounding incredibly tired to me._

_Lucy and I shared a guilty look before we creeped out to me him.  
_

_"We couldn't sleep," Lucy replied, to which I rolled my eyes. I had been sleeping perfectly well--she was the one with the problem sleeping._

_There was something... suspicious about the way that Aslan looked upon us. He looked almost... sad. What was bothering him?_

_"Please, Aslan. Couldn't we come with you?" I asked pleadingly, knowing that I sounded very much like a child. Though at the moment I didn't really care._

_After pondering my request for what seemed like hours, the lion gave us a small smile. I had to keep from staring, for it was still strange for me to see an animal showing such emotions. "I would be glad of the company for a while," he said softly, "Thank you." _

_Lucy and I each took ahold of a handful of his mane as we began to walk. We all walked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence--not the sort that made me want to say anything, if only to make it end. I had no idea where we were headed, and I doubted that Lucy knew either. I only hoped that Aslan did know where we were going. When we finally came to a stop Aslan turned to us._

_"It is time. From here I must go on alone," he said.  
_

_Despite the calm manor with which he spoke, I could sense that something was bothering him. "But Aslan--"_

_"__You must trust me. For this must be done. Thank you, Susan. Thank you, Lucy. And farewell."_

_And before we even knew what was happening, Aslan had walked off toward the Stone Table. I was terribly frightened, but knew Lucy was more so. I had to be strong for her. Grabbing her hand I pulled her off to a more secluded spot where we could still see the Table, but where we would not be seen. I shivered. The Witch's horrible creatures were surrounding the table, making foul comments to Aslan as he neared the Witch. I saw that she was holding a knife and my heart dropped. Why was this happening? How was this happening? My thoughts were racing as the Witch began a speech._

_"Behold, the great lion," she announced as one of her minions slammed Aslan to the ground with his ax._

_"Do you want some milk?" That little dwarf taunted.  
_

_I heard Lucy whisper something next to me about Aslan fighting back, but I couldn't answer her. I could barely even speak, let alone come up with a way to comfort her.  
_

_The White Witch spoke again, her voice as cold as ice, "Bind him."  
_

_There were some more calls from her minions, and each one filled me with more dread. By now I knew what was going to happen to him. Tears pricked my eyes and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from crying out loud. This wasn't right--I wanted to stop it, but I couldn't. I was completely powerless. I bit my lip harder as we watched Aslan getting tied to the Table, and having a rope tied about his mouth as well. _

_"Wait! Let him first be shaved!" the White Witch ordered._

_I felt Lucy next to me let out a gasp, and fearing that she would rush down there and try to stop their treatment of Aslan I reached out to take her hand once more.  
_

_"Bring him to me," the White Witch said, smirking as her soldiers did her bidding, pulling the lion up to her feet.  
_

_She said something to him softly that I couldn't hear before standing. "Tonight...the deep magic will be appeased! But tomorrow we will take Narnia forever!" Her minions cheered and she let out a cruel laugh. "In that knowledge, despair," she paused, before continuing, "and die!" With that she plunged the knife into the lion's body._

_Aslan's eyes widened for a few seconds before he let out a groan and they closed. Lucy began to cry outright and it took everything I had to keep from doing the same. I held onto her tightly, feeling the tears fill my eyes and the anger fill my heart.  
_

_"The Great Cat is dead!" the White Witch exclaimed, ending in an eruption of cheers. She turned toward her minotaur, or whatever he was, "General, prepare your troops for battle. However short it may be."_

I gasped, and jerked into a seated position. Breathing heavily I looked around the room I was in, wondering how I had gotten here. Where had Aslan gone? He was... he was... Tears filled my eyes at the memory as I slowly regained sense. I was in my bedchamber at Cair Paravel. Lucy and I were safe, Aslan alive, and the White Witch dead. Even so, the dream had been so realistic, it was as though those horrible events were happening again. I had been plagued by that same nightmare for the past seven days straight, resulting in not a single proper night's worth of sleep.

I shivered slightly, and wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to warm myself. Why were castles so cold, I wondered. I sighed, and slowly swung my legs around so that the dangled over the side of the bed. I set my feet on the cold flagstones of my floor and shivered again. I made my way across the dark room and opened the shutters on one of the many windows. I smiled a little as I looked out. Before me lay a small courtyard high on the cliffs, looking out upon the ocean. I took a deep breath, and was rewarded with the fresh air that smelled faintly of salt.

The torches that lit the courtyard were nearly out. The pearly radiance that came from the eastern sky in the hour before dawn fell over snow, stable, and the edges of a low wall that surrounded the castle and beyond. I smiled slightly as a bird flew by the window. I yawned, and my eyes darkened. Something was off. Despite the peaceful serenity that surrounded Cair Paravel and the rest of Narnia, I could sense that something was brewing. Something...evil.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Again I'm so sorry I haven't updated any of my stories! Writer's block has been so, so cruel to me lately and I haven't been able to think of anything at all to write. Somehow I managed to pull it together for this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2 - A Party and a Premonition

Parties have always bored me more than they have bored anyone else that I used to know. All the other girls that I used to play with back home loved parties. They could have been make-believe, tea parties, or fancy extravaganzas, the girls loved them all. The extravaganzas were the worst, and this one was no better. Hordes of people -- alright, so they weren't exactly people. Well, some of them sort of were, but most of them were Narnians. The others were people from other kingdoms who had traveled to Narnia from places that were supposedly "even more amazing than Narnia itself", at least according to one of the overly made-up women who was now hovering around Peter.

I rolled my eyes. How he could stand those women flitting this way and that vying for his attention was beyond me. There had been a few men who had tried to do the same with me earlier in the evening, but I had gotten rid of them easily enough. It seemed that pompous men in Narnia were just as bad as pompous men in England. And the one thing that kind of man hated the most was a girl who was obviously not at all interested in their "charms".

So, boring party, boring music, boring food... well, at least the grand ballroom was looking right pretty. The doors to the entryway were flung wide, allowing guests to mill in and out. Six dazzling chandeliers spilled down from the ornate ceiling, although it seemed like more than a hundred since they were reflected over and over in the vista of mirrors. Running all the way around the walls, they seemed to create a sea of glittering diamonds, and for a few minutes I just sat there, staring upward, drinking it all in like I used to when I was a child and I'd gaze at our Christmas tree for hours. There was something magical about all of those tiny lights, I realized, feeling that same flutter of anticipation. I felt as though anything could happen.

I dragged my gaze away from the ceiling, blinking away the brightness of the lights, and took in the couples dancing, the decorations on all of the walls, and the long tables set out on the edge of the room with food spread out all over it. I considered going over there and getting something to eat since I was feeling a bit hungry, but thought better of it when I noticed a few of my would-be suitors standing close by the table. I sighed. This was going to be a long night. The ball was supposed to last until everyone got too tired to keep going, and since I am one of the queens of Narnia, I couldn't just up and leave.

I looked around the room again, trying to spot someone I wouldn't mind talking to. Almost anyone would be fine, as long as they didn't want something from me that I would never give. I spotted the Beavers dancing together to the string quartet merrily, not paying much attention to much of anything. Nope, couldn't talk with them. Hmm.... there was Mr. Tumnus, but he was already talking to Lucy. I smiled wryly. Although both would deny it profusely, I could tell that they both liked each other. Although in Lucy's case the liking might be more like puppy love since she's only thirteen.

I moved on. Oreius was talking with Edmund, both looking like they were debating something. I rolled my eyes again. They were probably arguing about which was better: sword fighting, or spear fighting. Although both were proficient in swords, Edmund had taking a liking to the spear in the past few weeks, and had been desperately trying to get the centaur to spar with him.

Just my luck. Not a single person I could talk to that I would actually feel comfortable around. I sighed. If only Aslan were here... My heart clenched painfully in my chest. Five years ago, right after he made her and her siblings kings and queens of Narnia, Aslan left. He had come back a few times since then, but he always ended up leaving. Now was one of those times when he was gone, although I truly wished that he was back. I missed him terribly. Although I could talk to Peter and Lucy, sometimes even Edmund, I could never talk to them as freely as I could to Aslan. I was always afraid that I would say the wrong thing with my siblings, so I wouldn't say what I was really thinking or feeling, unless it was a matter of life or death.

I don't know why, but I can always seem to tell anything to Aslan. It was strange... the last time he had returned to Cair Paravel I could have sworn that my heart had been beating faster when he was around. That I had become tongue-tied when near him. I had acted like a schoolgirl with a crush, although that was impossible, wasn't it? I mean really, how could I have a crush on Aslan? It was ludicrous. I keep telling myself that, but something tells me that my heart isn't listening quite well.

"A drink, Queen Susan?"

I blinked, startled. A waiter had come up in front of the throne I was seated upon without my knowing it. He was carrying a silver tray filled with crystal glasses holding some sort of liquor.

"Oh... um, thank you," I said, blushing hotly out of embarrassment. I hope he wasn't standing there too long. I take one of the glasses quickly. I'm usually not one to drink, but I was feeling a bit out of sorts, and now I was thinking that maybe a drink was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. I was determined not to drink too much. It would just be one drink, to help to take the edge off my nerves. As the waiter wandered away I took a large, fizzy gulp. After this I would stick to water.

~o~o~o~o~o~

At least that's what I had planned on doing. Ten minutes later and I was on my third glass of champagne. At least... I think it was champagne. That part was becoming a little foggy now. I was now chatting amiably with one of those women that I had found so annoying before the first drink. Her name was Rachael and she was from Archenland. I couldn't for the life of me remember where that was, but did that really matter? Locations seemed more like extraneous details that weren't really necessary for conversing with someone.

"I love your dress, Susan," Rachael crooned, taking a long sip of her drink. "It really brings out the color of your eyes."

I looked down at my dress as though noticing it for the first time. Which, in a way, I suppose I was. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, since I hadn't exactly been looking forward to this party while getting dressed. The dress was made of a pale blue silky material that hung to the floor. There was a dark blue ribbon below the bodice, and the sleeves were long. In my tipsy state it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

"Thank you." I smiled appreciatively.

Rachael looked over the rim of her glass at a few of the young men who were still hovering over by the tables of food. "So, what do you think? Anyone that suits your fancies?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, not at all. They're all pompous, arrogant," I paused, not sure what the third word I was going to say was. Arses? No, that wasn't it. Bores? No, still not right. Oh yes, of course, now I remembered. "Gorillas," I finished, taking another sip of champagne.

She laughed as well. "I agree completely," she said, her eyes twinkling as she looked them up and down. Her eyes flitted back to me. "So... is there anyone you like?

I blinked. Was there? There was one name that popped immediately to mind, but there was no way I could say that I liked him. Besides, I wasn't even sure that I liked him. And in my current state of mind I really wasn't sure whether or not I liked Aslan in that way. So what could I say? Yes? No? Luckily for me, a short young man wearing what appeared to be a kilt interrupted.

"Ahem, excuse me..."

We both turned to face him.

"Would you care to dance?" he asked hopefully. We both stared at him, neither sure whom he was directing the question at. I mentally grimaced, realizing that it was me. He was sweating slightly and was all pink in the face. He blotted his forehead with a handkerchief and smiled eagerly, his boyish face lighting up. He had bad teeth.

I hesitated. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. The hard place being staying here, answering Rachael's awkward question. The rock being the guy in the skirt. Dear Aslan, his skirt was shorter than mine. I glanced at Rachael. She still had that overly curious look on her face that made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

I went for the rock. "That would be wonderful." I smiled, turning back to him. "Lead the way."

~o~o~o~o~o~

I had hoped the dance would be a short one, but sadly it wasn't. The string quartet was still playing the same piece five minutes later, much to my great distress. A few seconds ago I had seen the smug look on Peter's face and I realized that he had told the musicians to keep the song going for awhile longer. Just my luck. And to make matters worse, Harold, my dancing partner, was going on and on about his hunting accomplishments.

This really made me uncomfortable, considering a lot of my friends were animals just like the ones he was telling me about. And I wasn't drunk enough that I would actually find what he was telling me amusing. Quite the opposite in fact. I was finding what he was saying horrible in every sense of the word. And I was more than ready to get him to stop talking. I opened my mouth to speak when we happened to once again dance by Peter and the girl he was dancing with.

My mouth dropped open as I took a better look at her. She had long, pale blond hair, hard gray eyes, and an evil smirk on her face as she listened to him boasting about something or other. And her face -- I stopped moving, startling Harold. I knew that face. My entire body trembled with raw emotion. How could it be her? Jadis, the White Witch, was dead. Aslan had made sure of that five years ago. But I was positive that this woman was her. Except for one problem. Peter didn't seem to notice anything. He was acting like she was just some other woman.

Harold stared at me in confusion. "Is something the matter?" he asked me, trying to follow my gaze to see what had drawn my attention.

I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times, before taking a look at the woman again. Her hair was now short and brown, her eyes green, and her smile bright as she laughed. She looked absolutely nothing like Jadis at all. But... could it be that I had only hallucinated seeing her? Perhaps I wasn't feeling well. Maybe I had had too much to drink. All of a sudden the room spun and I had to place a hand to my head to try and steady myself. No, I definitely wasn't feeling well at all. When I lowered my hand the room was still spinning and I had the beginning of a headache.

"Are you alright?" Harold asked worriedly. "You look pale."

I shook my head. "Y-yes, I'm fine... but I think I'm going to call it a night."

"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"No, no, it's not you. I'm just a little tired." Which was true, I was tired. But I also felt like I was going to be sick. I gave Harold a small smile and went over to Peter. "Sorry Pete, but I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight, I'm feeling a bit under the weather."

Peter looked at me in concern, his eyebrows knitted together. "Oh? Do you want me to ask everyone to leave Suze?"

I shook my head again, wincing slightly as the gesture made the pain worse. "No, I'll be fine. I'm just going to go and lie down for awhile."

He nodded, looking only partially convinced. "If you're sure..."

"I am," I said reassuringly. "See you in the morning."

And I made my way up to my room without incident, although I had to stop a few times on the way to make sure I wouldn't throw up. When I reached my room I collapsed on the bed, feeling drained, hot, sweaty, and scared. Something was seriously wrong...even in my state of mind I knew that it wasn't just today that I had seen someone who looked just like Jadis. I had seen "her" at least three times in the past week. That had to mean something. And I had a pretty good idea of what it meant too. Narnia was telling me that Jadis wasn't quite as dead as we all had thought; and she was planning her return.

I slowly drifted off to sleeping, knowing exactly what my dreams would be of again this night.

**E/N: **This chapter turned out a bit different than I had originally planned, but I still like it. However, I'm starting to realize that I could really use a beta. If anyone is interested, please drop me an email or pm!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Here's another chapter up much faster. Sorry this chapter is short, I've had finals this week, and not much writing time. I hope you enjoy this one! And still looking for a beta if anyone is interested.

Chapter 3 - A Chat and a Return

Where was I?

I woke up lying face down. Slowly I rolled my head to the side. It thudded painfully. Ugghh. Next I curled my fingertips into the palms of my hands, feeling crisp, starched cotton beneath them. I was in a bed. I peeled open my eyes a crack. My bed.

Now that was a bit strange. How long had I been here? I didn't remember going to bed the night before... in fact the last thing I remembered was dancing with that dreadful man in a skirt -- what was his name again? Harry? No, not quite it. Harold? That sounded right. Yes, I had been dancing with Harold and then... I was drawing a blank. What then?

Of course. I had seen Jadis. At least... I thought I had seen Jadis. Now that I thought about it I realized that seeing her had probably been just a figment of my imagination due to drinking far too much. Probably me thinking that Jadis wasn't really dead before going to sleep had also been just another idea brought on by the champagne. At least... that's what I hoped anyway.

Groaning I forced myself into a seated position, a hand to my head to try and keep the room from spinning. It was an empty gesture, since the spinning wasn't even real. I peered blearily around my room, my eyes landing on the window. Even unfocused I could see that there was faint light trickling through it. Great, barely even daybreak again. The nightmares had drained me again, and had once more woken me before it was even properly light out. If they kept up like this I was going to be in big trouble.

"You're awake."

A voice startled me and I took a sharp breath as I saw a figure looming over me.

A face coming into close-up.

Lucy.

Oh god, make that three Lucys.

Woozily I looked up at her and tried focusing. For a horrible moment there was not just one hyperactive overly cheery sister, there was three of them. And, squinting hard, the three blurry images merged into one.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked cheerily, looking down at me with a large smile on her face.

"Terrible," I groan, then realizing my head is killing me, stop squinting and resort to staring up at three sisters.

Lucy giggled. "That's what you get for drinking," she scolded, pressing a cold washcloth to my forehead.

I narrowed my eyes, wincing in pain at the movement. "You're one to talk. I saw you take a few drinks last night yourself." I paused. "Speaking of which, why are you in such a good mood?"

"Good luck I guess."

"So how's Mr. Tumnus?"

Lucy blushed. "He's fine... but why are you asking about him all of a sudden?"

I smirked. "Oh no reason. No reason at all." I decided that embarrassing her wasn't very fun in much current state so I changed the subject. "So why exactly are you here so early? You don't normally get up for a few hours."

"You do," she pointed out quietly.

"Yes, well, that's me. I asked why _**you**_ got up so early today."

"Well..." Lucy hesitated. She began to twiddle her thumbs, something I knew she did when she had a secret that she wanted to tell someone.

"Lucy, what is it? Just tell me."

She made her decision because she quickly sat down on the bed beside me and began, her tone conspiratorial. "Last night Peter was really worried about you."

I sighed. Just what I needed. "Did he ask you to talk to me?"

Lucy surveyed me thoughtfully. "Sort of. He asked if I could ask you if anything was wrong. He said you looked like you had seen a ghost."

Oh no, I hadn't expected that. What was I supposed to say? That I had? That I hadn't? Lying would be for the best until I figured out whether or not I really had seen who I thought I had seen... I really didn't want to get Lucy, or the others for that matter, upset about something that could have just been me having too much to drink. I decided to go with the second option.

"No, nothing like that." I smile weakly. "Just a bit too much to drink, and an overeager dancing partner who I could have easily lived without."

I felt a bit bad about saying that about whatever his name was, but since I couldn't even remember his name for ten minutes straight I doubted that he was really that important to me.

"Are you sure?" Lucy questioned tentatively. If I didn't know better, and if I didn't think it might just be the effect of a pounding head, I could have sworn that she looked disappointed.

"Yes I'm sure. I think I would know whether or not I had seen a ghost." Big fat lie.

"Hmm..." She looked at me skeptically for a moment, and I wished I could just inch away from her until we were in separate rooms. Finally she sighed. "Alright, I'm temporarily convinced. You did have a lot to drink, so I guess that Peter could have only been imagining things."

I nodded vigorously. "That's exactly what he was doing, because I really didn't see anything but a short man in a skirt."

We were both startled by a voice coming from the doorway.

"No Susan, what you saw was real. She is still alive."

My eyes widened, but not by the words, but by the voice itself. I stared at him with tears in my eyes, barely registering Lucy sitting next to me with a dumbfounded look on her face. One word made its way to my lips in a whisper.

"Aslan..."


End file.
